1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to computer mouses, i.e. pointing devices, and more particularly to computer mouses ergonomically designed for children of ages about 18 months to 5 years, developmentally delayed individuals, ill and/or elderly individuals, of similar physical capability. More specifically, the invention relates to a compact, stable, and easy-to-operate mouse that has a single button or a plurality of buttons placed on the front wall of the mouse.
2. Related Art
Perhaps hundreds of computer pointing devices, called “mouses,” have been disclosed since the relatively recent advent of personal computers. Most pointing devices include a rotatable ball and one or more buttons which, when depressed, activate switches. Electronic sensors and encoders sense ball rotation and generate a signal indicative of the ball's rotation.
This signal is then translated to motion of the cursor in an X-Y coordinate system on the computer screen. Depressing the buttons sends commands to the computer to initiate defined program functions.
Generally two basic types of rotating ball systems are used. The most common is confined in the lower portion of the mouse where the ball rests on a flat surface, e.g. a desk top. Movement of the mouse around the flat surface causes rotation of the ball. The other approach, a “trackball”, presents the ball directly to the user's thumb or fingers for rotation. In the trackball approach, the mouse does not have to be moved, only the ball rotated within the mouse housing.
Many of these pointing devices claim ergonomic benefits to the user to provide greater precision in movement of the computer screen pointing cursor and to relieve muscle strain in the user. These strain relieving designs address nearly all aspects of the human anatomy from the lower back, the neck, the shoulder, the arms, wrists, hands and fingers.
Children, or developmentally or physically challenged adults, using pointing devices that are of conventional size and ergonomic configuration for adults will experience difficulty in satisfactorily controlling the mouse to the level of precision desired by the young, ill, or elderly individual, and required by the program. Additionally, the buttons of conventional adult pointing devices are often difficult for such individuals to depress, and specifically to exercise the common “drag and drop” program operation.
Prior inventors of pointing devices have largely failed to incorporate an understanding of physiology and development of a child's hand. Hand development in children is much more complex than just the strengthening of hand muscles. It involves the processing of information from the parietal lobe of the brain as it processes somatosensory information, the generation of motor programs to collect this data, and the generation of motor acts. In addition, visual spatial skills are necessary to guide the placement of the hand.
The central nervous system control of the hand is different from that of the shoulder, trunk or other proximal movements. The child must first develop trunk, neck, and shoulder stability before the hand can perform its intended functions. Individual finger motion depends on the pyramidal tracts and the primary motor cortex. The synapses of the corticospinal fibers improve the speed and dexterity of the finger movements. Without sensory input, vision can provide some information but the refined grasp, pinch, and manipulation of objects require sensory feedback.
Movements also have to be planned and sequenced which requires the premotor and supplemental motor areas of the brain. Vision is again a part of this process for smooth coordinated movements. One of these areas of the brain also commits the action to memory.
The anatomic and kinesiologic relationships of the hand and arm provide a structural foundation for the functional adaptability of the hand. The twenty-seven bones of the hand are arranged in three arches, two transverse and one longitudinal. The intrinsic muscles of the hand are responsible for the changes in the configuration of the arches. They originate and insert within the hand. The grasp by the hands and fingers depends on the integrity of the mobile longitudinal arch. The joints allow for the unique movements of the thumb and fingers. The extrinsic muscles originate on the forearm. These muscles provide the child with movement of the forearm, wrist, and fingers.
Functional hand movements are related to the sensory, perceptual, and cognitive abilities of a child. While control of the force of grasp is only one parameter of manipulation it does equate to the development of skills. A one-year-old child is not able to hold a paper cup without crushing it, while a three-year-old can. The force of grasp continues to be refined as a four-year-old child can adjust movements and handle fragile objects or stack blocks. Discrete movements, such as writing, require efficient control of finger movements and can take years to control. For some children writing mastery is not achieved until their twelfth birthday. This coincides with the myelinization of certain parts of the corpus collosum of the brain. As these tracts mature, the child's velocity to respond improves.
The conventional computer mouse requires isolated and independent movements of the fingers and thumb, and stability of the wrist, forearm and shoulder. In addition, vision, somatosensory perception of the arm and hand in space, and the cognitive awareness of the function of the mouse are necessary for its proper and effective use. While a toddler can isolate finger movements, he or she is not able to coordinate these movements purposefully with a typical mouse. Coordinated release of an object, such as a mouse or mouse button, occurs between the ages of three and four years.
A standard computer mouse requires the very controlled pressurization and release by one finger for operation of a mouse button. Object size will affect the manipulative abilities of a small child. The larger the object in comparison to the size of the hand results in a decrease in the child's ability to perform. Rotating a small object in the fingers begins at about four-years of age. A child of four is able to switch from using an external surface for manipulation to being able to complete the task totally within the hand. The grip force rate is related to tactile mechanisms and the reflex is not present until four-years of age. This relates to the child's ability to hold onto an object with the correct amount of force while manipulating it.
As will be seen from the following discussion of a few important examples from the myriad prior art, the aforementioned considerations for the design of mouse pointing devices are notable by their absence. For example, Robinson (U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,112) discloses a computer mouse having a soft rubber structure built into the housing for comfortably supporting the wrist and palm of the adult computer operator. This inventor provides mouse buttons at the front of the mouse, generally at an angle of approximately 45 degrees from the vertical. This approach partially enables a child to grasp the buttons, a better configuration than having the child press downward on buttons situation on the top of a mouse. Robinson's design also provides a plurality of buttons, the selection and separate actuation of which is difficult for children from about 18 months to about 5 years of age.
Lo (U.S. Pat. No. 5,576,733) teaches an ergonomic computer mouse that includes an upright, primary finger-supporting surface for supporting all of the fingers of an upright hand in straight positions and in an upright stack. Lo also includes an opposite thumb-supporting surface. Lo asserts that the operator's hand, while holding this mouse, will be in a naturally upright and relaxed position, without requiring twisting of the hand, wrist, or forearm. As a result he claims that fatigue, discomfort, and pain are minimized or eliminated even after a long period of continuous use. Clearly Lo has given careful thought to the ergonomics of computer pointing devices and has made an important advancement in that direction. However, Lo does not address the very different and specialized needs of the child that is 18 months-5 years old.
Goldstein et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,726,683) discloses an ergonomically designed mouse having a top surface that has a negative slope of 15 to 30 degrees from front to rear. This mouse also has a vertically rising left side surface and a plurality of buttons curving from the front of the top surface and rotated in a counterclockwise position when viewed from the front of the mouse. Although Goldstein's buttons curve around the front surface of his mouse, they fail to meet the aforementioned specialized finger grasping needs of the child computer operator. In addition, the plurality of buttons is in excess of a child's ability to manipulate effectively.
Barr (U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,303) has invented a hand holdable computer mouse that has an external contour or shape that conforms to the smoothed-out mean of the contour of the palm or inside surface of the adult hand when it is in a neutral state. The mass of the ergonomic computer mouse is vertically oriented so that the hand, wrist and forearm of the person holding and operating the mouse are maintained in a neutral disposition, without radial nor ulnar deviation, with the palm of the hand vertically disposed and the hand essentially resting on the ulnar portion thereof. Excursions of this mouse across the work surface are effected by wrist flexion and extension without radial nor ulnar deviation and without forearm pronation nor supination but with neutrally oriented forearm and shoulder muscles. As others have done, Barr has carefully considered the adult anatomical considerations in the design of her mouse. However, as others have also failed to do, Barr does not orient the design of her mouse to the special needs of children.
Finally, and perhaps most relevant to the extant invention, Adams et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,990,871) describes a pointing device designed for children aged 2-6. Adams' overall objective is to provide a mouse that accommodates the hand size, motor control and postural needs of young children. Adams' overall approach is to provide a specially designed two-handed track ball having a single button. Specifically, a relatively large ball is provided that extends above a housing. The housing has left and right gripping areas or handles for both hands of the user. A button, occupying a 40-60 degree horizontal arc, is provided at the front of the housing. The placement, shape and size of the button is intended to optimize activation of the button by the child user. In operation the child first orients the housing by gripping it with both hands and orienting the mouse so that the mouse button faces the user. The child then places one hand on the ball and rotates the ball until the cursor is at the desired location on the computer monitor screen. The user then “strikes” the button with a thumb or index finger to perform the desired program function.
Clearly Adams and has made an important advance with respect to providing a track ball type of mouse that is convenient and practical for use by young children. Nevertheless, significant opportunities remain for improvements beyond conventional pointing devices by taking into consideration the unique anatomic and kinesiologic relationships of a child's hand and arm along with his/her sensory, perceptual, and cognitive abilities, and/or for the unique needs of a developmentally delayed, ill, or elderly individual. The present invention addresses these needs.